We decided to lighten the mood this time around by asking our Law Firm Marketing experts from across the region a non-law-firm related question: “What did you most want to be when you were little?”

A CEELM Profile of Daniel Szabo, Central Europe Team Lead at Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Budapest.

On January 1st, 2020, the Hungarian government adopted new legislation making continuing professional education compulsory for lawyers, post-qualification, along the lines of post-certification training and education that tax advisors and accountants had been forced to obtain for many years.

Erdos | Katona has advised Cordia International Zrt. on Cordia International Zrt.’s July 23, 2020 HUF 36 billion bond issuance, made pursuant to the Bond Funding for Growth Program of the Hungarian National Bank. Allen & Overy advised Raiffeisen Bank, the lead arranger.

The Hungarian Parliament passed a legislation on the ban of single-use plastic in Hungary on 7 July 2020 as part of the Climate and Nature Protection Action Plan. The legislation was meant to be accepted earlier this year, however then the proposal was withdrew because of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an earlier press release from the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, the “Hungarian Government is committed to defend the created world”.

Kinstellar has advised the Hungarian State on a greenfield investment in helicopter spare parts manufacturing plant to be established in Hungary by Airbus Helicopters and the Hungarian state-owned NLP Nemzeti Legiipari Projekt Kft.

Lawmakers have adopted new rules protecting consumers against faulty goods applicable as of 1 January 2021.

Eva Nikolic has become Senior Director Legal, Developed Markets at the Astellas pharmaceutical company, where she will head the company's commercial legal agenda and lead related legal support in 22 European markets, including Central Europe and the Adriatic and Baltic regions.

After the successful first METAR tender last year, on July 15, 2020 the Hungarian Energy and Public Utility Regulatory Authority launched the second METAR tender to support renewable electricity producers under the green premium scheme.

Stay informed about the latest developments in competition law in Central and Eastern Europe with Schoenherr's multi-jurisdictional newsletter. Each issue offers insight into developments in merger control, anti-trust, as well as public and private enforcement in the region.

The amendments to the Hungarian Bankruptcy Act enter into force on 1 August 2020, aiming at modernizing the rules of the insolvency law, maintaining employment and facilitating the agreement between the creditors and the debtor in the course of the bankruptcy and liquidation proceedings.

Since the state of emergency was terminated on 18 June 2020, the special employment law provisions introduced due to the coronavirus pandemic are no longer applicable. In particular, the employer is no longer entitled to unilaterally request the employee to work from home.

Recently, a Hungarian court accepted the right of a taxpayer to recover VAT on a bad debt where the VAT claim has already elapsed. The court made it clear that the statute of limitations does not count from the day of the original invoice but from the date when the debt became definitively irrecoverable. This decision may give hope to taxpayers in many pending cases.

The following Q&A is an extract of the Private Equity Trends Monitor, which provides you with an up-to-date overview of the latest and anticipated trends across the European private equity sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report on trends and developments will be issued every two months as the situation continues to evolve. This extract covers private equity deal activity in Central and Eastern Europe.

Fixed-Rate Tax of Low Tax-Bracket Enterprises (acronym in Hungarian: KATA) has become widely popular since its introduction in 2013 due to its beneficial tax rate and simple administration. By the end of 2019, 377 thousand entrepreneurs opted for this taxation mode, however, according to the Ministry of Finance, 40% of those switched previous employment status to KATA taxation. Since KATA was introduced to support micro enterprises and not to be an alternative to employment, the Ministry of Finance is set to act against this trend.

Dentons has announced the appointment of three partners to European practice and sector leadership roles, with Anita Horvath to co-lead the Europe Energy group, Christopher Rose to lead the Global Private Services sector group within Europe, and Thomas Schubert to lead the Europe Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies group.

After a few weeks of enjoying the easement of travel restrictions, with Europe leading the way, the Hungarian government adopted new rules applicable to travellers coming to Hungary. The new rules are applicable for travellers with private passports. Freight traffic is exempt. So, holiday bookings and business trips must be put on hold, yet again?

Cerha Hempel's Budapest office has helped set-up a new company – Cetin Hungary – by way of a de-merger from Telenor Hungary.